Turkeys

On Saturday, Mrs and I were invited to assist in the processing of a neighbor's 10 turkeys.  She has raised them from little poults and they had grown to huge birds.  As late as Friday night I had grown apprehensive about being involved with this, but I was determined to follow through.  This was our neighbors' first time raising birds for meat and I was also concerned about how well she would do and wanted to be there at the very least for support.  These are indeed some of my favorite people and we could not ask for better neighbors.

There were to be a number of people there and a huge effort was put out by another neighbor (I'll refer to him as Fisherman) and his wife who have been involved with larger scale turkey processing and had all of the equipment needed to complete the process.  Though we have lived almost across the street from Mr & Mrs Fisherman, we have not really interacted with them other than the neighborly waves.  It would be good to actually meet them.

Also to be there were the turkey owners' two adult sons as well as their significant others, and several friends of the kids all of whom made the process go rather efficiently and fast.

Mrs and I opted out of the 7:00 breakfast and planned to just show up at the 8:00 start time.  I left a little bit ahead of Mrs and arrived to find the process had begun with one hen already in the makeshift cone.  I made quick contact with the turkey lady and made sure she was doing ok.  She was a bit wide-eyed, or so it seemed, but I think the large gathering gave her some comfort.  This could not have been easy for her.

I did not participate in the actual killing, though I did help to place birds into the cone and held them in as there heads were removed and the blood drained.  They are amazingly strong and had we had to avoid them struggling which could cause bruising to the meat.

So, the process in a nutshell:
1. bird killed and blood drained.
2. bird placed in the huge pot of scalding water for about 20 seconds to loosen the feathers.
3. feathers and legs removed.
4. ice water bath to bring the temperature down.
5. neck, crop and contents removed, guts removed, heart, liver and gizzard sorted and cleaned.
6.back in the ice bath for a rinse and cooling.
7. remove any leftover feathers and clean up the body.
8. put on ice.

Once a couple birds had been cleaned of their feathers, I happened to be standing near Fisherman when he asked who was going to gut.  So, there I was, empty-handed.  Fisherman gave me a quick lesson in neck removal, crop/contents removal, and gut removal.  Most important in the process in to not rupture the gall bladder while removing the innards or cutting out the liver.  Doing so would, as I understand it, ruin the bird.

We spent about two hours bouncing  from place to place around the small, backyard farm doing various jobs and helping others and others helping us.

There was a wonderful gentleman from Jamaica there as well who worked with Turkey Farmer's daughter at a local farm who was so great as well.  He was a master at processing the birds, apparently having done so since he was a small boy in Jamaica.  He showed us how to clean the legs and feet and made them look amazingly appetizing.  He watched every bird to make certain that nothing he considered a delicacy was tossed aside.  I am so glad to have met him and spent time in his presence to get a feel for just how much we Americans are capable of wasting.  Did I leave with feet?  No.  But I left with a better understanding of how Jamaicans in particular view food.

A bit of a warning before I proceed.  The images that follow may be disturbing to some, but really what it is is truth.  The day, for me anyway, was about being closer to where our food comes from.  To have known the birds.  To have known that they lived a good, comfortable life free of chemicals and free from the mistreatment that factory farms are known for.

We did not have a large cone as would be used in bigger operations, so I believe it was Fisherman who had created a makeshift 'cone' using a large plastic bucket normally used in nursery applications as shrub containers.  A hole large enough to handle the head of the birds was made in the bottom.  Here you see one of the boys making the necessary cuts to drain the blood and the other guy is holding on tight to keep the bird in place.

The extremely large scald pot.

The wonderful Jamaican fellow removing the legs just prior to removing the feathers.  I learned the importance of removing the large tail and wing feathers first before the bird cools down too much.  They become more difficult to remove as it cools.

Most feathers off. Legs off.  It already looks like food.

Ice bath.  Quick cool down before gutting.

Fisherman walking me through my second bird.  In this image, working on removing the neck.

Mrs watching as I begin the gutting process.

A teaching moment for both of us.  Neck removal.

Teamwork!  Cleaning the feathers from the final birds.  You can see our Jamaican farmer friend expertly cleaning the feet.  He would scald them, then peel the skins off, and remove the nails. A great farmer!

Picking some tiny feathers off of one of the birds with one of Turkey Farmer's sons.  This trash can served as one of our ice baths.

Our event location.  What an amazing morning.



Sunday - Another Turkey

So, we decided to get another turkey from Watt's Family Farm in Forestdale.  These are smaller birds, raised locally and humanely.  We did this last year as well.  Pick up was this morning at 8:00 and I was there at 7:25ish to beat the crowd.  I chatted with an acquaintance and her friend in line while we waited for the doors of the garage and refrigerated truck to open up.

I was out of there quickly having secured a good spot in line.  We have a nice 16 pound turkey for Thanksgiving.


I spent a good bit of time cutting up the 40 pounder.

I was amazed at how much meat was on this bird.  The wings were over 2 pounds each.  I left the legs and thighs together.  They were 5 pounds + each.

And the breast were amazing.  9 pounds each side.  I deboned them and used our FoodSaver to package them for freezing.

The monster bird next to a 5 pound chicken.

Ready for the freezer.

A small portion of one side of the breast.  After I took the bone out of this, Mrs was able to cut some beautiful pieces from it.

These four pieces are from one side of the breast.  This is about 9 pounds, total.

So, it was a turkey filled weekend, and so wonderful to be with friends and meet new people.